Img - Book 2 - Chapter 33 - Crash Recovery (Patreon)

Hey guys, here's a free chapter to make up for the fact that I didn't push one out yesterday. Hope you enjoy.

It took me a second to realize that, despite the car corkscrewing through the air at close to fifty miles per hour, it didn’t feel like we were crashing. I could feel gravity shifting, but otherwise it felt like we were sitting still. 

As the van slammed to the ground, grinding along on its side, Amelia gasped and groaned in pain. I really wanted to check on her, but it was extremely difficult when we were both literally hanging sideways, just barely held in place by our seatbelts. 

It took the vehicle a couple of seconds to finally come to a halt, and it wasn’t until the very last moment that I started feeling the vibration and inertia again. 

“Alright, everyone out,” Pam growled as she disconnected her belt and fell against the passenger side window. “I want you kids to run to the nearest alley, then double back to the office as quickly as possible while Mac and I cover you.”

“And how are we supposed to get out of here?” Kyle asked. “The side door is now under the car, and that lunatic is somewhere behind us, so I really want to avoid opening the back.”

“We’ll either have break through the windshield, or go out the drivers side door,” Mac replied. I heard him disconnect his seatbelt, but he didn’t plummet from his seat; Instead he seemed to have found something to hold on to, because I saw him slowly lower himself until he was perched with one foot on the side of Pam’s seat, and the other in one of the recesses in the dashboard. “Amelia, do you think you can punch out the window?”

“I can try…” Amelia replied with a pained groan. I wedged one of my feet under Olivia’s seat in front of me and pulled against my seatbelt in order to turn just enough that I could look up at Amelia. She was extremely pale, and her hands were shaking.

“You softened our landing, didn’t you Amelia?” Kyle asked. “Used your powers to lessen the kinetic forces or something. I didn’t know you could do something like that.” 

“I didn’t either,” Amelia replied. “I’m not even sure what I did, or how I did it, but it took a lot out of me.” 

“Well, whatever you did, we appreciate it,” Kira said quietly. “Someone could have been seriously injured if it wasn’t for you.”

“It was nothing,” Amelia muttered.

“While I appreciate what she did as much as the rest of you, now isn’t the time to express your thanks,” Pam said. “We really need to get you all out of here. Now.”

“Right,” I muttered, fumbling with the buckle of my seatbelt. Unfortunately, since it was supporting my weight, it didn’t seem to want to disengage, so I used my foothold to ease the pressure as much as I could. 

Just when I thought I’d managed, I heard a voice echo out from my bag. “Hey! What’s the big deal? Why are you throwing your bag around? We’re sleeping in here!” Frost declared as they pulled open the zipper and poked their head out. They looked around for a second before spotting me, and then tilted their head to the side. “Why are you hanging around?”

“I didn’t throw my bag,” I growled as I slipped my foot around, trying to find a more solid foothold in the bottom of Olivia’s seat. “That maniac attacked us and flipped our van! We need to get out of here!”

“What maniac?” Sprout asked, crawling out of the bag.

“That guy who was following us before, Grey,” I said just as I found enough purchase to raise myself up slightly. I clicked the button on the buckle and immediately plummeted to the bottom of the van. “Owwwww….”

“You mean that foul-smelling guy? He dared to attack you?” Crackle growled before letting out a feral hiss. The sound was so guttural, and unlike any sound that I’d ever heard the Sparks make before, I couldn’t help but glance up at Cackle. When I did, a chill went down my spine.

Cackle and the others had changed. They normally looked like tiny adorable fairies, but as I watched, their feature became sharper. Their fingers elongated into talons, their hair stood up and became spiky manes, and they grew needle-like teeth.

“He needs to learn a lesson,” Sprout growled before letting out an unhinged laugh.

“Uhhhh…” was all I managed to get out before Crackle rose out of my bag, began glowing red hot, and then shot towards the side and melted a neat hole straight through the metal. The others followed a second later.

“What just happened?” Olivia asked, trying to turn around, still hanging from her seatbelt. 

“I have no idea, but I have a feeling it’s not good,” I replied, scrambling to my feet. “We need to get out of here.”

I reached up and did my best to try and support Amelia, so she could get down, but she was just a little too high for me to do it effectively. As I readjusted my grip, trying vainly to lift her enough to get her belt undone, Kyle came over and tapped me on the shoulder. 

“Let me do it,” he said quietly. “You help Olivia and Kira.” 

“Are you sure?” I asked. 

“I can handle it,” he replied confidently. “Olivia is lower, and once you get her down you can both help Kira.”

“Right,” I replied, stepping back and making my way around to the next seat. Olivia had one foot resting on the side of Pam’s seat, and was struggling to push herself upwards, but the angle was making things difficult. 

“Let me help,” I said quietly. “I can put my shoulders under your side and push you up in order to get some slack on your belt. If that’s okay with you.”

“Anything to get out of this thing!” Olivia growled in frustration. 

“Alright,” I said. “On three. One, Two…” 

“Three!” Olivia shouted, pushing as hard as she could against Pam’s seat while I lifted her from below. There was an almost instantaneous click, and Olivia half-fell, half-rolled off my shoulders, landing in a crouch on the floor. 

I reached down to help her up, and when I did a loud crack from the front seat made me jump. 

“The bullet didn’t penetrate,” I heard Mac declare. “He’s got some sort of barrier up.”

“I didn’t think it would be that easy,” Pam muttered. “Despite what it may seem, the man didn’t get to where he is by being reckless.” 

“Did you just shoot at him?” Kira exclaimed in disbelief. 

“The man has gone full rogue, and he just tried to kill us,” Pam replied cooly. “I’d be thrilled if he just fucked off, and left us alone, but he seems to be intent on finishing the job, so we need to do whatever we can to drive him back.”

I watched her as she kicked at the windshield, slowly dislodging the shattered piece of safety glass in by inch when Kira cleared her throat. “Could you, uh, give me a hand please? I don’t think I can get down on my own.”

“Sorry!” I exclaimed, reaching up and trying to brace her the best I could. 

Olivia shot to her feet. “Let me help too!” 

Between the two of us, we managed to get enough slack in Kira’s belt that she could get it undone and slip down to the floor next to us. “Now what?” she asked. 

“Now we get you kids out of here,” Pam grunted as she pressed against the corner of the shattered windscreen, getting it to bend just enough for someone to slip through. “Mac, are we clear?”

When the big man didn’t reply right away Pam reached up and punched him lightly in the back of the leg. “Mac! Are we clear outside?”

“Sorry,” the big man muttered, obviously distracted. “He’s still a ways back, and he’s distracted, so if we want to slip out, now is the time. 

“Distracted? By what?” Kira asked. 

“From what I can see, everything,” Mac replied as he carefully climbed down from his perch. 

I gave him a confused look, and even though I wasn’t looking at my friends I had a feeling I wasn’t the only one.

“You’ll see soon enough,” Mac said. “Trust me.”